The legend of Lady Carcas (french: Dame Carcas) is an etiological story about the origin of

Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the ...

's name.

The legend

The legend takes place in the 8th century, during the wars between Christians and Muslims in the southwest of Europe. At the time, Carcassonne was under

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

rule and

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

's army was at the gates to reconquer the city for the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

. A Saracen princess named Carcas ruled the Knights of the City after the death of her husband. The siege lasted for five years. Early in the sixth year, food and water were running out. Lady Carcas made an inventory of all remaining reserves. The villagers brought her a pig and a sack of wheat. She then had the idea to feed the wheat to the pig and then throw it from the highest tower of the city walls.

lifted the siege, believing that the city had enough food to the point of wasting pigs fed with wheat. Overjoyed by the success of her plan, Lady Carcas decided to sound all the bells in the city. One of Charlemagne's men then exclaimed: "Carcas sonne!" (which means "Carcas rings"). Hence the name of the city.

Historicity

Lady Carcas appears to be a fictional character. The legend dates back to oral traditions of the 12th century, was written down in the 16th century by

Jean Dupre Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

and rewritten in the 17th century by Guillaume Besse and

Guillaume Catel Guillaume may refer to: People * Guillaume (given name), the French equivalent of William * Guillaume (surname) Other uses * Guillaume (crater) See also * '' Chanson de Guillaume'', an 11th or 12th century poem * Guillaume affair, a Cold War espi ...

. Charlemagne could not have besieged Carcassonne, as his father Pepin had already taken the city from the Saracens in 759 - Charlemagne would have then been 17. Similar legends link a number of historical characters in other times and places with similar ruses. One of the earliest was the 6th century BCE Greek

Bias of Priene Bias (; Greek: Βίας ὁ Πριηνεύς; fl. 6th century BC) of Priene was a Greek sage. He is widely accepted as one of the Seven Sages of Greece and was renowned for his probity. Life Bias was born at Priene (modern-day Güllübahçe, Tur ...

who successfully resisted the

Lydia Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the mod ...

n king

Alyattes Alyattes (Lydian language: ; grc, Ἀλυάττης ; reigned c. 635-585 BC), sometimes described as Alyattes I, was the fourth king of the Mermnad dynasty in Lydia, the son of Sadyattes, grandson of Ardys, and great-grandson of Gyges. He ...

by fattening up a pair of mules and driving them out of the besieged city. When Alyattes' envoy was then sent to Priene, Bias had piles of sand covered with corn to give the impression of plentiful resources.

Traces in the city

* At the entrance of the drawbridge, a replica of Lady Carcas's bust welcomes visitors. The original, dating from the 16th century, is preserved in the castle. * There is an inn called Dame Carcas in the city. * Shortbreads called "Friandises de Dame Carcas" are sold by the city's grocery store.

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

* « Dame Carcas, une héroïne sarrasine », / Sylvie Caucanas, ''Perpignan, l’histoire des musulmans dans la ville (du Moyen Âge à nos jours). Recueil des communications du colloque du 7 et 8 avril 2005'', Perpignan : Archives communales, 2005, pp. 33–44. * « La légende de Dame Carcas. Les origines épiques » / Gauthier Langlois, ''Bulletin de la Société d’études scientifique de l’Aude'', tome CIX, 2009, p. 77-87 et tome CX, 2010, p. 45-58.

External links

Ressources et revue de presse sur le site Paratge

Légende racontée par Jehan Du Pré (1534) et Guillaume Besse (1645) sur le site Paratge

Légende sur le site de l'office de tourisme de Carcassonne

Site commercial de l'Auberge de Dame Carcas
Carcassonne French legends Medieval legends